Help /Advice please wise ones :)

Rie_Rie87
Rie_Rie87 Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All,

So I gained 1 lb this week and I think part of this is due to the fact my canteen is easily assible and you buy food with your work pass... The money comes out of your salary at the end of the month... Which means I am also spending FAR too much money too!

So what I need to do is have some ideas of packed breakfasts and lunches that I can bring into work each day and would like to know your favourites? I do have a microwave and fridge I can use...

Needs to be relatively cheap to make as I cannot afford to bring my weekly food shopping bill up by much either.

I know you all are better at this than me - Which is why I am asking for your help :)

Also, I feel like if I brought in breakfast and lunch eat day, I am less likely to fall off plan and gain weight - if you know what I mean?

Thank you xxx

Replies

  • RamonaFr
    RamonaFr Posts: 112
    My sister, who is in good shape and a health nut, takes salad in a jar to work. She puts low-fat dressing on the bottom of the jar, then chopped veggies, then greens on top. The process of pouring it out into a bowl gets the dressing from the bottom of the jar to the top of the salad. She takes low-fat cheese, celery sticks, a bit of healthy seeds or nuts, healthy crackers, home-made soup and that sort of thing for lunch. I think you could take boiled eggs, fresh fruit, microwave oatmeal, yogurt and non-fat milk for breakfast. None of those takes much time to prepare. My sister chops veggies on Sunday and keeps an assortment in the frig so she just has to pour some into the jar for her salad each day.

    My, I don't work any more -- retired, so I'm not much help.
  • maz2469
    maz2469 Posts: 67 Member
    yes, planning lunch and taking food into work really helped for me!

    I started with yoghurt and blueberries for breakfast, banana or another bit of fruit mid morning, and salad (sweetcorn, tomatoes, spinach, fish or chicken), carrots/cucumber and hummus mid-afternoon, and pots, chicken/fish and plenty of veg in the evening.

    Alternatively make bigger portions of dinner at home and take a portion of that in for re-heating at lunch. Whatever works for you!

    Make a list of good foods you enjoy and see what combinations are affordable and easy to keep. :-)
  • SunnyDuckling
    SunnyDuckling Posts: 204 Member
    I bulk cook 1 or 2 foods on a Sunday and portion everything up and freeze it. This can be stuff like soups, lasagne (I don't make this from scratch - I just cook the premade frozen ones and split it into the portions listed on the nutrition panel), stirfry, slowcook meals, fried rice, chicken kiev (again, pre-made), steamed fish... Portion control and it means that I always have something to eat when I'm way too lazy to cook in the evening. Take it out of the freezer the night before, leave in fridge overnight, take with me in the morning, heat and eat at lunch - Oh yeah!

    Breakfast: Overnight Oats - really easy, I use four ingredients, you could do more or less depending to taste.

    1/4 cup rolled oats (uncooked)
    1/4 -1/3 cup flavoured yoghurt (Watch the sugar content here)
    1/3 cup natural or greek yoghurt
    1/4 cup of milk

    I put it into a small leakproof container, stir, overnight it all thickens, have for breakfast in the morning. I'm fussy with cold foods, so I find that if I take it out of the fridge, by the time I get into work 20 minutes later, it's perfect eating temperature.

    http://www.katheats.com/favorite-foods/overnightoats <--- Heaps of ideas here, most I would never consider, but they may be to your taste.

    ETA: P.S. If you are worried about your food budget, remember the less you spend at the cafeteria, the more money you'll take home! :)
  • dxc92
    dxc92 Posts: 138 Member
    I make 1 tin of 130g tuna, mixed with lighter than light hellmans mayonnaise - not a lot of it though, and then wrap it in lettuce to make a lettuce wrap!

    You can buy eggs, beat them and add a dash of milk. Add a little salt or prepper if you want. Chop up whatever veg you like (I use green peppers) then get a baking tray with the indent bits for baking little muffins or something. Then pour the egg with the veg in to all the cake spaces for how ever many you want to make and bake for 20 mins.

    You could also get chicken breast and seasoning (I use garlic, then chive or mild chilli). Wash the chicken. Season the chicken. Wrap in tin foil and then put in the oven until cooked! You can also boil some brown rice to add with it and maybe some brocolli too! You can do 2 chicken breasts at a time and keep the other one in the fridge for the next day.

    That is just some of the stuff I use, and it works out a lot cheaper than buying from a canteen or shop :-)
  • lawlorka
    lawlorka Posts: 484 Member
    I have porridge for breakfast during the week - the quick and easy stuff you just add hot water to. Once a week I will treat myself to scrambled egg, or poached egg, sausage or bacon from the canteen though.

    For lunch I'll either have a Tuna Wrap that I bring from home (Tuna in Spring Water drained, light mayo and a wrap) or I'll bring in the leftovers of whatever we cooked for dinner the night before and heat that up.

    I don't tend to snack during the day, as I go to the gym at lunch most days and find that helps suppress my appetite. I do snack once I'm home though!!! But as my breakfast and lunch are both pretty low calorie, I can fit in any kind of snack I want, whether that be nuts, fruit, veg, or chocolate!
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Advice? So you want to stay away from the canteen because it gives you too many calories, but bringing in food will also give you too many calories? Help me out....
  • Rie_Rie87
    Rie_Rie87 Posts: 13
    Advice? So you want to stay away from the canteen because it gives you too many calories, but bringing in food will also give you too many calories? Help me out....

    I didn't say anything about bringing in lunch being too many calories! I wanted lunch ideas?


    Thanks everyone else! Some really great ideas :o)
  • Rie_Rie87
    Rie_Rie87 Posts: 13

    ETA: P.S. If you are worried about your food budget, remember the less you spend at the cafeteria, the more money you'll take home! :)

    Exactly!!!! I want to use the money for other things, so could really do with tightening the belt at work (in two ways, haha!)

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